HIMELE Festival Updates

February 11, 2023 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

Here is the latest news about HIMELE's Hawaiian steel guitar festivals.

Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival at Ka Makana Ali‘i

February 18, 2023

The performance schedule for the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival at Ka Makana Ali‘ i is:

Kona Steel Guitar Festival

March 23-25, 2023

Patti Maxine has withdrawn from the festival due to a medical issue. "She is still struggling after breaking her femur and is reluctantly cancelling her trip to Kona," says Alan Akaka, HIMELE Chairman of the Board.

Open Stage signups are ongoing, with many of the performance slots already reserved. If you plan to participate on the Open Stage, please submit your request right away! See the festival Contact Page to reserve your slot.

Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival

July 14, 2023

Shinichi Kakiuchi has been instrumental in publicizing the 2^nd Annual Japan-Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival to his Japan colleagues and several have already signed up to perform at the festival. This event showcases steel guitarists from Japan who specialize in performing Hawaiian music.

Steel guitarists who have indicated participation include Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi, Masami "Matt" Kobayashi, and Shuji and Noriko Tomita.

Steel guitarists from Japan who are interested in participating in the festival should contact Shinichi or send your request to contact@himele.org.